by E L Thorne
Shadow of Seduction.
Other Worlds Forever
E.L. Thorne
Copyright © 2020 by E.L. Thorne
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Epilogue
About E.L. Thorne
Shadow of Seduction
Other Worlds Forever Book 12
This is a closed door, clean, supernatural suspense version of Elle Thorne's Shifters Forever Worlds books. The language has been toned down and the books have been specifically reworked for those who do not particularly enjoy open door romances.
Chelsea works at a salon in Bear Canyon Valley. She gets butterflies when Grant's around. But she's got her own baggage. She’s got a secret she’s running away from. Plus, she thinks that Grant would be better off with the local, stunning, curvy, widowed-way-too-early Mae Forester.
Grizzly bear shifter Grant Waters wants one woman--Curvy Chelsea O'Reilly. He's wanted her since they met. Except he's worried his secret may be too much for her. It may be what sets her running.
Chapter One
Kane
Know what you get when you save a girl from being abducted? Your ass kicked. That’s what. And that’s exactly what had happened to me.
But I saved the girl, that’s what matters, right?
I made my way toward my destination in a slow, painstaking, meandering manner. The painstaking was because I’d been severely wounded in that fight with shifters trying to kidnap the girl.
Now I was busy hiding from a bunch of ruthless mercenary shifters that have a price on my head. Yeah, tons of shifters looking to make a bounty. I was slowing making my way to Mae. Bear Canyon Valley, that’s where I was headed.
Chapter Two
Astra
Brrrrt... Brrrrt... Brrrt...
I ignored it. Wouldn’t even look at it. Nope. Not once. I’d promised myself tonight would be a night off. I shoved my hair away from my face, and thought again about cutting my long blond locks. But there was no way I would do short hair. It didn’t suit me.
Brrrrt... Brrrrt... Brrrt...
I stirred the pasta instead of looking at the phone. The stupid cell phone vibrated again. Though I couldn’t see it, and wouldn’t look at it, I could hear it, clattering loud against the wood of the table.
Wow. Someone is way too persistent.
I was looking forward to a night of spaghetti and a movie. I’d DVRed a movie last week and hadn’t had a chance to check it out yet. I’d spent the last few days helping ranchers and pet owners, being called to assist with problem deliveries, wounded animals. Not that I didn’t love my job. I did. I enjoyed training to be a vet. But I needed a minute off. Okay, maybe more than a minute.
Brrrrt... Brrrrt... Brrrt...
The phone vibrated on the table again.
I bit back a curse word. Why couldn’t they call another vet assistant? I picked up the phone and turned it over so I could see the screen. It wasn’t someone looking for veterinary help.
I couldn’t resist the smile that crept onto my face. Grant. My favorite uncle. More like my favorite shifter. Except I didn’t like shifters. At all. Well, my stepdad and Grant were the only shifters I liked. The only ones I knew, too.
Who could blame me for hating shifters, though? Enemy shifters had killed my mother, leaving me to be raised by Doc.
I tapped on the screen to answer it. “Hi, Grant. Chelsea didn’t get bonked on the head again, did she?” I liked Grant’s woman, Chelsea. Had liked her since the moment I’d met her, a little over a month ago.
“No, Astra.” The smile on Grant’s face could be heard in his voice. “But I was hoping to get Doc to pay us a visit. Not an emergency, but... his services are needed.”
I squealed out loud. Then I clamped my hand over my mouth. I hadn’t planned to lose control that way. Doc was a doctor. A people doctor, not an aspiring animal doctor like me. Could this mean—?
“Chelsea’s not pregnant, is she?” Excitement was hard to hide when it came to Grant and Chelsea having a baby.
Grant laughed, the sound welcome in my tired ear. “Hey, now! We’re not rushing that part. Still planning the wedding.”
I laughed too. I knew that. In fact, I was going to be in the wedding. Chelsea had asked me to be the maid of honor. Mae was supposed to be matron of honor. I hadn’t heard what we were going to wear yet, but I hoped it wasn’t one of those god-awful colors that bridesmaids’ dresses seemed to always be.
“Well, Doc’s out of town. Did he not answer his cell?”
Grant was silent on the other end. That set alarms off for me. I wasn’t sure what kind of alarms, because he didn’t seem panicked or anything like that, but still, his silence spoke volumes. Maybe I’m overreacting.
“I was just going to sit down to dinner.” I didn’t mention the movie part, because I didn’t want Grant to feel guilty if he had to pull me away from it. “I’ll put it aside and eat later.”
I heard Grant saying something. It was muffled, though, as if he’d put his hand over the mic. Then I heard Chelsea’s voice in the background.
“Hey, Astra?” Chelsea. Clearly Chelsea had either taken the phone from Grant or he’d handed it to her. “Why don’t you bring whatever you cooked over and we’ll do a potluck thing? Mae’s here, too.”
Now the signals were really going off in my head. What was Mae doing there? Why did they need medical attention? And why had Grant hesitated when I’d asked him if he’d called Doc?
Chapter Three
Kane
I glanced from Grant to Chelsea, back to Grant, and finally to Mae. “What am I missing? Who’s Astra?”
“She’s Doc Evans’ daughter—stepdaughter,” Mae corrected herself.
“Doc’s out of town. Astra’s coming over. She can check you out.”
“I’m fine. I’ve mostly healed.” I frowned at the three of them. There was an undertow I didn’t understand. I appreciated Mae’s overprotectiveness, but I wasn’t a child.
Jeez. I was full-grown. More than a century and a half old, for shit’s sake. I ran a hand over my stubble. The several days of growth was itchy.
Grant frowned back at me, a look of concern underlying the frown. “A shifter bite, certain shifter bites—those are altogether different from a regular wound, Kane. They can create issues. Just let her check.”
I nodded.
Grant had said that I could stay in one of his cabins, and I could acquiesce to a little examination in exchange for that. Especially since I had to stay off the grid and lie low.
I felt guilty not telling Mae everything, but I pushed the guilt away. Sometimes knowledge could pro
ve dangerous to others. It was best I just mind my own business, stay off the radar, let things settle, and then move on. I was a nomad anyway, with no interest in putting roots down. In spite of my nomadic ways, though, I didn’t want to bring trouble to these nice people who would give me a place to stay, if only for a while.
I inhaled deeply and my stomach roiled from hunger. The dinner they’d put together was tempting. I’d hardly eaten anything in three days, traveling only at night, wearing scent block so I couldn’t be scented, always in bear form so I could hear and sense other shifters.
I cleared my throat to drown out the sound of my stomach’s rumbling. “Grant, I sure appreciate you letting me stay in one of your cabins.”
“No problem. It’s our way. We help each other out.” Grant smiled at Mae.
I wondered about the smile. It was as if they shared a secret.
Mae patted Grant’s shoulder. “It’s nice to have shifters in the valley again. It’s been lonely.”
I wanted to correct her, to tell her my plan was to be here only for a short time, but I didn’t have the heart to do that. She seemed so happy, and there was a gleam in her eye.
Then I remembered, I had a question for Grant. “Could I ask one thing? And I hate to be a pain in the a—”
Mae coughed.
I looked at her, then Chelsea.
Oops. Shit. I’d almost said ass. “I’m sorry. I was saying I hate to be a pain, but is there any possibility I could put in a request?”
“Sure.” Grant put an arm around Chelsea and planted a kiss on her temple, on a spot where a tiny, crescent-shaped scar remained from what looked like a recent wound.
Chelsea smiled back at him, leaning her body against his.
I bit back the shot of envy that coursed through me. What the hell was wrong with me? Domestication didn’t suit me one bit. I’d never been happy with one woman. I’d never wanted to settle in one place for long. I took a deep breath and forged on with my request. “If you have a cabin that’s high on the mountain, one that’s isolated, and as far up as possible, I’d love to use that one.”
“I do, but it’s way up there, man.” Grant ran fingers through his hair. “You sure? That one doesn’t have electricity yet. I’ve got Joe modernizing the cabins, but we were reserving some of them for late spring when getting up there and back down would be easier.”
“I’m positive.” I knew I practically glowed with excitement.
A cabin without electricity that wasn’t easy to get to, that’d be right up my alley. A dream come true, if you’d asked me.
A small gasp escaped Mae. “Isn’t that the one way up in the clearing? I don’t think that’s a good idea. Avalanches...” She paused.
She was probably hoping I’d take the hint. Yeah, I wasn’t going to take any hints.
“Avalanches don’t mean anything to me. I’d hibernate through one.” I shrugged.
No biggie for me; an avalanche was the least of my problems. Unless I was trapped with unfriendly shifters, and outnumbered, like I’d been a few days ago. I didn’t think that would happen again. I’d done a great job covering my tracks.
My stomach growled loudly in hunger, reacting to the tempting aromas that were coming from the kitchen. “Sorry,” I said. “It’s been a while since I had a meal.” What the hell. Were they going to take my hint? When were we going to sit down to dinner? “Shall we?” I started toward the kitchen, not wanting to be rude, but at the same time, I needed some damned food.
Mae put a hand on my shoulder. “We were going to wait for Astra.”
“Why? Is there some sort of rule that says she can’t examine a shifter unless he’s got an empty stomach?”
Chelsea stifled a giggle.
Mae shook her head as if I were incorrigible or hopeless. Or both.
Grant was the only one who remained serious. “No. We invited her to join us for dinner. It’s nice to do that, since Doc’s out of town.”
Grant’s manner of speaking was easygoing, but there was a level of tension in his demeanor that threw me off again. Something was making my senses go on high alert.
“So what are you not telling me, then?” I narrowed my eyes, my gaze penetrating. I focused on Mae, though I knew she wouldn’t give information easily if she didn’t want to. I didn’t want to turn my scrutiny on to Chelsea. I wasn’t sure Grant would appreciate my pushing her around, and since Grant was going to provide me with a cabin to stay in for a while, I didn’t think that bullying Grant’s woman for answers would be all that cool.
Mae sighed, as if she was ready to give up. “She’s got a thing for shifters. That’s all.”
I cocked my head. “Like, she’s a freak and loves to do shifters? A shifter groupie kind of thing?”
Laughter roared out of Grant. “No. More like she hates shifters.” He managed to get the words out between bursts of laughter.
I gave a perfunctory nod, confused at the humor of the situation.
A knock on the door stopped Grant’s laughter.
Chapter Four
Astra
I shivered from the brisk weather. Doc and I had moved away after my mother died, only returning to Doc’s old stomping grounds, and the place where my mother had died a few months ago.
But in no time, I was eager to move away again, to a better climate. Florida, Texas, California, anywhere but up here in the mountains. I’d have left already if it weren’t for Doc. Sure, my mother had told Doc to take care of me. But I took care of Doc, too. He needed someone to keep up with his daily needs.
How could a man make it through medical school, but forget to eat breakfast and lunch on many days? And how could he forget simple stuff like paying his bills on time? I shook my head. I could hear Grant laughing on the other side of the door. Maybe that was why they hadn’t answered my knock; they couldn’t hear it.
I held the pot against my body with one hand and knocked again with the other. Except, this time I pounded on the door, and was tempted to kick it with my hiking boots so they’d open up.
On the other side of the door, the sounds of merriment died abruptly.
The door swung open, and Grant greeted me with a wide smile.
Chelsea pushed in front of him to take the pot and at the same time give me a warm hug, wrapping me in her arms, her body warm from the room’s heat.
Mae cut in, giving me an exuberant hug, too.
What gives? So much excitement to see me? Had they been lying when they said Chelsea wasn’t pregnant? Why else would they be acting weird like this?
I stepped around Mae and Chelsea and ran into a solid wall of man-chest.
It wasn’t Grant.
I raised my gaze slowly, my eyes rising from the broad expanse of glorious man-chest covered in a faded flannel shirt over a T-shirt. The next thing that came into view was a strong jaw, a chin that had just enough of a cleft to be sexy, but not obscenely movie-star-ish, and a stubble that made thoughts run through my mind... dirty thoughts.
Damn, what the hell.
I hadn’t even looked in his eyes yet, and I was already reacting as if I were in lust. I wasn’t, dammit, and I wasn’t interested in meeting a man. I didn’t have time for a man.
I raised my gaze over sculpted cheekbones to his eyes. Holy hell. The intensity of his scrutiny seared straight through me.
Then it hit me, and instinct caused me to raise my hand to hit someone—something.
He’s a shifter.
Fury burned through me with a fierceness that cut me to the core. Grant knew how I felt about shifters.
Averting my eyes from the gorgeous, mountain-sized man in front of me, I turned a burning look toward Grant. “You knew—you know how I feel about this—”
I spun toward Mae, tears clouding my vision. I closed my eyes to hide the tears, but the starburst explosions behind my lids didn’t help. I felt dizzy. I couldn’t breathe.
Seeing a shifter brought back one memory, the memory of my mother fighting shifters to keep them away from
me until Doc arrived on the scene, saving my life, but too late to save my mother’s life. My mother, bloody, bleeding, soaked in crimson, her flesh shredded, holding on to life by a thread and saving her daughter from death. Breathing her last breath in Doc’s arms. I hadn’t talked for months after that.
If my father had been around, if I’d had a father or even some distant relatives, I’d have been sent to live with them. But all I had was Doc. Doc, who was a shifter, one of the kind I hated for killing my mother.
Doc became my salvation, my parent, my guardian, even my best friend. Doc’s friend Grant, who in turn became my friend, despite how I felt about shifters. Now they’d betrayed me and put yet another shifter in my life.
Damn them! If I had the means, I’d end all shifters’ lives.
Fearful that I’d falter, even fall, I put a hand out to steady myself. Too late. I stumbled, and my eyes flew open. All I could see was the black-eyed gaze of the striking shifter in front of me.
Breathe, I told myself. Breathe.
I couldn’t.
Why didn’t my lungs want to work?
Chapter Five
Kane
I stared at the ashen-haired beauty in front of me. My bear could hear her erratic heartbeat and feel her pulse through my senses. This was the Astra they had talked about.